FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures after welcoming Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Jessica Koscielniak/File photo
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the San Carlos Apache tribe gather outside of the Sandra Day O'Connor courthouse to protest the sale of Oak Flat, land considered sacred by the Apache, to the Resolution Copper mining company in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Wendsler Nosie, a leader of Apache Stronghold, speaks to supporters of the San Carlos Apache tribe as they gather outside of the Sandra Day O'Connor courthouse to protest the sale of Oak Flat, land considered sacred by the Apache, to the Resolution Copper mining company in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo

By Ernest Scheyder

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized an appeals court's decision to temporarily block federal officials from completing a land transfer needed for Rio Tinto and BHP to develop Arizona's Resolution Copper project.

Trump's post on his Truth Social platform came after he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum met at the White House with the CEOs of Rio and BHP, two of the world's largest mining companies, which have been trying to develop Resolution for more than a decade.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the transfer - which had been slated for Tuesday - should be halted while the court weighs a request from the San Carlos Apache tribe to block the project for religious, cultural and environmental reasons.

It was only the second time any court has ruled in favor of the Apache or their allies in more than five years of myriad legal maneuvers against Resolution, slated to become one of the world's largest supplies of a metal used to build nearly every electronic device.

Trump called the court a "radical left court" and said that those who oppose the mine "are Anti-American, and representing other copper competitive Countries."

"It is so sad that Radical Left Activists can do this, and affect the lives of so many people," Trump said in the post. "We can't continue to allow this to happen to the U.S.A.!"

Trump did not outline any actions he plans to take to sway the court, but said that "our Country, quite simply, needs Copper — AND NOW!" He did not provide evidence for his claims about the court and opponents of the project.

Terry Rambler, chairman of the San Carlos Apache, said in a statement that he and the tribe were "working to save the U.S. from making a disastrous decision that would give up American resources to foreign interests."

Rambler noted in his statement that BHP is based in Australia, while Rio is based in Australia and the U.K. and its largest shareholder is a Chinese aluminum company.

Rio has said it plans to keep all of Resolution's copper inside the U.S. should the mine be approved. The company controls one of the two U.S. copper smelters.

Rambler said he believes that Rio is likely to export Resolution's copper to China.

"I look forward to sitting down with the administration and providing factual information that will help protect American assets," Rambler said.

COURT

The appeals court made clear it takes "no position on the merits" of the Apache's arguments and would expedite its review. Judges asked for filings to be submitted by October 14, but have not yet scheduled a hearing date. Ten of the appeals court's 29 members were appointed by Trump.

Rio said it was "confident the court will ultimately affirm" the land transfer. Rio CEO Jakob Stausholm and his successor Simon Trott, who will take the company's reins next month, were at the White House meeting with Trump.

BHP CEO Mike Henry thanked Trump and Burgum on social media "for their strong leadership to reinvigorate mining and processing supply chains in and for America."

Trump's post comes less than a month after he imposed a copper tariff on wiring and pipe, but not the copper concentrate produced by mines themselves, a levy falling far short of what the mining industry had expected. That will allow other countries to import copper into the U.S. without fear of tariff implications.

HISTORY

The mine's construction would cause a crater that would swallow a site where the Apache worship. Congress and then-President Barack Obama approved the mine in 2014 after it was added at the last minute to a must-pass military funding bill with the condition that an environmental report be published.

The underground mine - which Trump approved in his first term before successor Joe Biden reversed him - would supply more than a quarter of U.S. appetite for copper and be a key part of Trump's plan to boost U.S. mining.

Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of some Apache and conservationists, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the transfer, a request that the high court denied in May.

Meanwhile, the tribe itself made the same request of federal courts. It failed last week at the district court level and appealed over the weekend.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Franklin Paul, Stephen Coates and Sonali Paul)